Calendar

I put my head on my pillow last night and for the very life of me could not sleep, and didn't know why. I was like a restless warrior searching for a place of peace to hunker down. There was nothing urgent that was going on in my head. And one by one I gave whatever popped into my mind to the Lord, whether it was prayers for my children, or the plans for my next day looked, or praise for the blessings that he had laid before me, or intercession for people who I knew needed prayer, or where he wanted me to land in service, thinking that would maybe help, but I still was restless. I know some of you reading this have been in just this same spot. So what next! After hours of watching shadows dance through my room and listening to the air condition go about its automatic dance, I finally began recanting verbs in alphabetical order that applied to Christ. And finally I was at rest.

I went to bible study yesterday and Pam, our teacher is doing a series on "The Event Planner". This week's topic was "the calendar". One that we all can relate to. And I considered this morning that that lesson might have been the actual backdrop for my restlessness, but I was unable to identify it because I had allowed it to get all tangled up in my other stuff. She flew all over the bible with references as to how the Lord wants us to wait on his nudge and not try to contrive and manipulate things on our own. And how important it is that we live for this day in spite of the busy calendars that we have acclimated ourselves to.

She spoke of yesterdays shattered dreams (Joel 2:25 I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten) and todays stress (Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.), and tomorrows unmet needs (Psalm 27:3-14 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.) And she told the story of praying for the perfect mate and waiting and waiting but she felt God needed to hurry up. The time was right now, she pleaded, and she was ready to find that perfect someone that God had chosen for her. But as she earnestly prayed and prayed she realized that God did not want her waiting on a "boy" he wanted her waiting on him. For his timing was perfect and he was not yet ready to show her his choice for her. That time would come and did.

It was such a great analogy because it reminded me that I am too often anxious for my calendar detail to be in order, and line up with my timetable. I want to know NOW what will happen tomorrow. Waiting is in the tomorrows and as long as we wait in anxiousness and not in trust we will submit to the tangles that come from unaccounted for control and forfeit the joys of this day. She also shared a story about a mom who wanted her son to go to Duke. She wanted it so much that she helped him with his papers, and scurried around behind the scenes with such boldness and aggressive push on her son that he did get into Duke, oh but he was miserable. How many times have I made plans for my children and earnestly prayed for this or that without consulting God and considering that his will might be on a very different page than mine, for his heavenly purposes that I am not able to recognize or privy to. God knows just what he has planned for each of our lives, and how he will orchestrate the details to get us there. But the wait and anxiousness seem to overpower the patience that he has called us to have. Is there something you have been praying for a long time? Do you think God is ignoring your plea or has forgotten your request. Do you just want him to hurry up ad give you an answer? Sure we all do! But if we wait...and wait...and wait... we will one day see how he uses the experiences of our yesterdays to bring us to his tomorrows as we enjoy his todays.

These were only two examples of trying to plan a calendar without God. But if we are honest don't we do that all the time with the little things as well as the big things? We get sucked into the pressure of peers, the comparison of others, our self generated dreams etc, and completely leave Christ out of the mix when making decisions. Oh but God is wise, he is timely and he is patience as he advances us to himself. He gives us sometimes what we pray for only to remind us that sometimes what we pray for is not what we truly need or what we in fact thought would bring us security or contentment.

Pam said that there was one prayer that will never fail: It is that thy will be done! God's will must be done! He has orchestrated it according to his good purposes. If we allow our will to donimante, we will find ourselves entangled in the yesterdays and tomorrows and MISS out on the todays. We will miss out on the relationships that bind us together in the Lord, the moments that memories are made of, and the small blessings that he has left for us to find today might well be hidden again tomorrow.

Christ wants us to follow him, and give him our calendars for this day. He will take care of the tomorrows. Sure we can plan and should plan but we should do it in pencil and allow God eraser rights and trust that when he does make his adjustments to our timetable it is so that His will will be done. Our plans can spew all over the place and often times do, but God's plans are covered in his faithfulness and remain steadfast. If only we trust, truly trust and ask God to partner with us as we make our plans, then we will be secured in the fact that he is with us every step of our way and will use this day for his building blocks for tomorrow. God's ways are not our ways, and it is his calendar that trumps ours. And on that note I will rest my head for tonights dreams. Hope this may too give you a peace that trumps your restlessness.

Dear Lord, We are blessed to have teachers who dig into your word and show us your way, and help us to relate it to our daily lives. I thank you for the blessing of this word from Pam. Amen


Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!